To the Editor: Purple bacteria still a problem

Remember the purple discharge from the mega-dairy in Jo Daviess County? Feldman, engineer for Traditions, claimed to have seen this type of bacteria infestation in the swine lagoons of North Carolina. He said it is the bacteria that made the purple (never mind that purple bacteria have never been a problem in Illinois before the wonders of the mega-dairy and its pollution…). The IEPA investigator asked for him to send the sample to a lab for definitive determination. It would have been nice if Traditions had released this tidbit to the public, but they continue to hide behind their lawyers. Probably the same reason they are reluctant to answer questions from the IEPA and the USEPA.

If there were justice, the purple discharge would vacate Ward’s ruling, vindicating those who fight for clean air and water. The purple discharge originated on the mega-dairy site, it was high in a number of pollutants, it contaminated a river, and it trespassed. The purple discharge proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the danger to the community from this industrial facility is real—and already occurring. This discharge had IEPA documented pollutants that were literally off the scale, including BOD readings that were twice that of raw sewage.